KYNETON

The Scott Cook tour will start with a relaxed pizza-fest, at a great local family restaurant.

My tip is to come in early and hoe into your pizza/pasta of choice and then settle back for some music with a nice glass of local wine. :)

Scott Cook

A roots balladeer with a rare personal warmth, Canada's Scott Cook has managed to distil the stories collected over a decade of touring across Canada, the USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia into straight-talking, keenly observant verse. Road-worn, painfully honest, and deeply human, his tunes weave threads of folk, roots, blues, soul and country over spacious fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo arrangements. His fourth release, One More Time Around, was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award, and its opening track "Pass It Along" won the Folk and Acoustic category in the 2013 UK Songwriting Contest, with UK magazine Maverick Country naming him "one of Canada's most inspiring and imaginative storytellers”. In 2017 he released his sixth album Further Down the Line, earning another Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for English Songwriter of the Year.

Cook is one of the hardest-working DIY troubadours on the road today, averaging over 160 gigs and a dozen festivals a year. All the hard miles notwithstanding, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.

"Scott Cook has distilled his travels down into songs powered by a sharp eye for imagery, a healthy dose of humanity, and that unforgettable voice, that at the same time intones the rigors of the road and the most comfortable couch you have ever slept on." -David Francey, 3x Juno-winning songwriter

A small town in rural Victoria was the accidental meeting place for Liz & Robbie when they crossed paths in a café in 2013 and decided to play together. From their first rehearsal it was evident that a lengthy musical relationship was on the cards. Frencham and Melville discovered a shared love of jazz, pop, and folk, and instinctively blended their influences into a warm, earthy sound like red wine on a winter's night. The obvious chemistry between the pair is intensified by a willingness to never play any song the same way twice. This results in an extraordinary musical empathy, full of surprises, light and shade, and a child-like playfulness. Folk rhythms dance with ambient loops; Frencham’s vocals tug directly on your heart, met by Melville’s beautiful harmonic dissonances, and every nuance is distinct.

Email her for info and to confirm your interest: jasmine@mmnet.com.au"

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"In concert he has a knack for balancing drama and humour; for punctuating the poignant with a laugh and sometimes vice versa.

He exudes an easy charm that finds its perfect counterpoint in his long-term collaborator, effervescent bassist, singer and fellow-songwriter Liz Frencham.

His lyrics are a constant strength with their wit and insight, and his singing is convincing enough to carry them. The cause is immeasurably aided by Frencham's harmonies and the appeal of her lead vocals."

John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald LIVE review 11/11/2013

Singer Songwriter and Australian diplomat Fred Smith recently featured on ABC television’s Australian Story. Fred will be touring Australia in November following his return (inshallah!) from a final stint in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. His Dust of Uruzgan CD captured his experiences in the war-torn country and earned him comparisons with songwriting greats Don Walker, Eric Bogle and John Schumann.

While working on the Multinational Base in Tarin Kowt in August this year, Fred wrote a song called ‘Going Home’, capturing the mood on the base as the mission winds down and our troops begin to withdraw from Uruzgan. He recorded the song while on leave in September, and will be teaming up with Griffith University to release a video and recording of the song in early November as part of an Australian Research Council arts and health initiative. Money raised through downloads and CD sales of ‘Going Home’ will go towards supporting Mates for Mates, a not for profit organisation set up to provide support to wounded, injured or ill members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and their families.

On his November tour Fred will be sharing the stage with longtime sidekick Liz Frencham, playing a range of songs from both his solo, and their shared repertoire. Fred presents his songs with a wry humour and gentle worldliness earned through the experiences that inform many of his songs. He has spent the last 15 years all over the joint: working in Afghanistan and the South Pacific, touring in North America and travelling the Australian festival circuit. He has released about eight albums, mostly solo, but also collaborations with Liz Frencham

"In concert he has a knack for balancing drama and humour; for punctuating the poignant with a laugh and sometimes vice versa.

He exudes an easy charm that finds its perfect counterpoint in his long-term collaborator, effervescent bassist, singer and fellow-songwriter Liz Frencham.

His lyrics are a constant strength with their wit and insight, and his singing is convincing enough to carry them. The cause is immeasurably aided by Frencham's harmonies and the appeal of her lead vocals." John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald LIVE review 11/11/2013

Singer Songwriter and Australian diplomat Fred Smith recently featured on ABC television’s Australian Story. Fred will be touring Australia in November following his return (inshallah!) from a final stint in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. His Dust of Uruzgan CD captured his experiences in the war-torn country and earned him comparisons with songwriting greats Don Walker, Eric Bogle and John Schumann.

While working on the Multinational Base in Tarin Kowt in August this year, Fred wrote a song called ‘Going Home’, capturing the mood on the base as the mission winds down and our troops begin to withdraw from Uruzgan. He recorded the song while on leave in September, and will be teaming up with Griffith University to release a video and recording of the song in early November as part of an Australian Research Council arts and health initiative. Money raised through downloads and CD sales of ‘Going Home’ will go towards supporting Mates for Mates, a not for profit organisation set up to provide support to wounded, injured or ill members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and their families.

On his November tour Fred will be sharing the stage with longtime sidekick Liz Frencham, playing a range of songs from both his solo, and their shared repertoire. Fred presents his songs with a wry humour and gentle worldliness earned through the experiences that inform many of his songs. He has spent the last 15 years all over the joint: working in Afghanistan and the South Pacific, touring in North America and travelling the Australian festival circuit. He has released about eight albums, mostly solo, but also collaborations with Liz Frencham

Fred Smith and Liz Frencham will be teaming up again for a special concert that will include all ten songs from Frencham Smith’s much loved debut CD release Into My Room.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of their collaboration. Their paths have diverged and converged since then. Fred toured in the United States between 2004 and 2007 and spent 18 months in Afghanistan in 2009/2010. ABCs Australian Story aired a special feature on him and his work in war torn countries on 14 October.

Fred has returned from another stint in Uruzgan province in time for this November tour. His 2011 release, Dust of Uruzgan earned him comparisons with songwriting greats Eric Bogle, Don Walker and John Shumman. Interestingly, the Into My Room album and the collaboration with Liz Frencham has been an outlet for more personal and feminine side to his writing.

Liz has released a solo album (Jericho) and a number of other recordings including a collection of duets (You and Me) with eminent Australian and overseas artists among whom she has become known as the go to girl for tasteful double bass and vocals.

Sydney Morning Herald critic Bruce Elder may have hit the nail on the head in describing what makes the duo work: “Smith is a superb songwriter … Frencham has a voice with the appeal, emotional honesty and clarity of someone like Shawn Colvin … There is no other folk duo in Australia which even comes close to this magical combination.”

The Clarendon Guesthouse is situated in the heart of the Blue Mountains at Katoomba. Offering accommodation, music, entertainment, restaurant, classic cocktail bar and log fires. Enjoy the warm log fires in winter or temperate summer days in the mountains,

The Clarendon Guesthouse is a perfect getaway in Australia's best intimate entertainment venue.

The Royal-Exchange is a small creative arts establishment in the style of European and New York basement-like art community houses. We are home to Experimental Performances, Music, Art House, Cult and Foreign Movies, World Music Concerts... and always welcome the Frivolous, the Ridiculous and the Irrelevant (as well as Irreverant). NB there are steps leading to the venue which makes disabled access hard.

A very special intimate evening with this spellbinding singer/songwriter bass player.

Always a luminous and generous presence, Liz possesses that unique ability to hold an audience fondly in the palm of her hand.

Liz will by accompanied on guitar and vocals by Pete Fidler.

“Frencham has a voice with all the appeal, emotional honesty and clarity of someone like Shawn Colvin or Mary Chapin Carpenter. Yes, really, she is that good.”— Bruce Elder, (Sydney Morning Herald)

“Liz Frencham is an ornament to music. The complete package: a superb song-writer, sings like an angel, and when Liz is on stage with one of her double-basses, it’s like two parts of the one whole.”— RiotACT Online